634 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



except the extra accounts we have to keep. 

 Since the above experience! have adopted the 

 plan of shipping to as many different parties 

 as the numbers 300 to 500 was contained in my 

 production, according to the size of my crop. 

 Some seem to think purchasers will get 

 "scared "over seeing honey at every commis- 

 sion merchant's window, so hold off about buy- 

 ing, but I find this is fallacious. As well talk 

 of abutter panic being caused in the same way; 

 for all our commission men who handle country 

 produce handle butter, yet the price of butter 

 keeps steady, and people buy every day in spite 

 of butter at every store. Since I adopted the 

 plan of scattering my crop among several com- 

 mission men in several cities, the prices obtain- 

 ed have been very satisfactory; returns in most 

 cases have been made quickly, and several lots 

 sold from one to two cents per pound above the 

 market quotations. 



To sum all up, I would say. put honey up in 

 the most attractive shape possible, and sell for 

 cash if you can obtain as much into a cent a 

 pound as you think it will bring you when 

 shipped on commission If you can not thus 

 sell it, ship on commission to reliable parties, 

 sending .500 pounds and under to each party. 



SCORCHED wax; can IT BE USED BGAIN ? 



I have a cake of .sco7-c?ie(2 wax, about 9 lt>s., 

 which I made about seven years ago. Is there 

 any way I could take the scorched scent out of 

 it so as to make up in brood foundation? The 

 ABC, 1887 edition, doesn't seem to have any 

 thing to say about the subject. 



Rock Rift, N Y. John S. Callbreath. 



[Scorched wax, like scorched sugar or molas- 

 ses, is practically ruined. You could mix the 

 stuff in with a lot more of good wax. but it is 

 doubtful whether it would be better than so 

 much sand. The only thing I can suggest 

 would be to put it into a solar wax-extractor. 

 That which has not been entirely spoiled will 

 separate, I think, under the action of the sun, 

 and run down as fairly good wax. As all our 

 wax is heated by hot water, itself heated by 

 steam, we don't have scorched wax. — Ed.] 



IS IT A fact that bees SHOW A PREFER- 

 ENCE FOR NEW OR OLD COMBS? 



Dr. C. C. Miller: — I can answer two of your 

 questions in Stray Straws in Gleanings, June 

 15. 1. A queen will lay in old combs every 

 time before she will in new, as I have tried it 

 often. Put old and new combs side by side, 

 and the old ones will be filled with eggs first. 

 2. Do ducks eat bees? Yes, they have done it. 

 One of my neighbors had ducks and bees. The 

 bees watered at his trough, and the ducks 

 caught many, for I saw them in the act. 



Now, Dr. M., I will ask you a question: How 

 long can you keep eggs out of the hive and 

 have them hatch in another? One time I took 

 a comb from a black colony containing eggs, 

 and kept them out a little over four days, and 

 then I gave the comb to a colony of Cyprians, 

 and they reared black bees. C. K. Decker. 



Hanford, Cal., July 1. 



Dr. Miller: — My observation leads me to be- 

 lieve that the queen prefers oftZ combs to lay 

 in, and that the bees likewise prefer the old 

 combs for brood and storage. Combs turn dark 

 by usage, as I think chiefly by fine varnish ap- 

 plied by the bees. All the interior and wood- 

 work of the hive is also varnished in time. 



Hopkinsville, Ky., June 26. D. F. Savage. 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



I hardly know how to account for the differ- 

 ence of opinion regarding the preference of bees 

 for old or new combs. Some say bees prefer 

 new combs both for brood-rearing and for stor- 

 ing honey, and yet it seems to me that in the 

 many cases I have noticed there has been such 

 a decided preference shown for the old comb 

 that it would seem safe to consider it the uni- 

 versal rule. Will any one who feels sure that 

 bees prefer new combs tell us what led him to 

 this conclusion? 



The duck question was raised in the British 

 Bee Journal; and while there was testimony 

 that in some cases ducks left bees unmolested, 

 there was also very direct-evidence that a duck 

 would not scruple to lunch on bees. 



As to the length of time eggs can be kept 

 without spoiling, I have no very great know- 

 ledge. In the few trials that I made, I think 

 eggs were destroyed after being kept out of the 

 hive three days. But that doesn't prove that 

 they might not be all right in other cases when 

 kept out the same time or longer. It might be 

 a step in advance if we could learn to keep 

 worker eggs, for such eggs might then be sent 

 by mail for the sake of getting new stock. 



[Queens. I feel sure, show a preference for 

 comb partly dr&wn nut from the foundation; 

 but I think I have noticed that, when it is fully 

 drawn out, they will select the old combs. 

 This seems to be more apparent toward the 

 clo«e of the season, when it is evident that cool 

 nights will come on soon. A wasp nest con- 

 taining eggs and larv;e was laid on my table 

 two weeks ago. Some of the larv;e were un- 

 capped, and died in three days: but on uncap- 

 ping the others at the end of ten days they 

 made a respectful bow, and seemed very vig- 

 orous. To-day. Aug. 5. two days later, they 

 are all dead. Probably bees are not so tough. 

 -Ed.] 



is it a case of unusual balling of the 



QUEEN? 



I have been handling my bees on the clipped- 

 queen plan for ten years past, but met with an 

 experience to-day that surprised me. I intro- 

 duced an Italian queen to a colony about five 

 weeks ago; decapitated the old queen, because 



